THANK YOU!!

[picklypopcorn]

I posted a few weeks ago about how my house had got on top of me and how I was living day to day in a complete shite hole partly thanks to my very messy dogs and partly thanks to my anxiety and depression which had just got totally on top of me gradually. The house was so bad it stunk, was grimy and just generally really really grim.

Anyway! I asked you guys for help and you gave me the best advice ever: just start in one tiny section of one room and get it totally perfect, then move on to the next section of that room etc etc etc, throwing away anything I didn't need as I went. I was also advised to just work through it in 15 min bursts, So I did.

Well once I started I couldn't stop.

2 days later I sat down with a cup of tea in an absolutely spotless living room, in my absolutely spotless house that had been scrubbed, bleached, dusted, wiped, vaccummed and just generally blitzed! I threw away 36 black bin bags full of rubbish. 36. It felt AMAZING.

4 weeks (ish) later I have set myself up with a weekly routine that's pinned on the fridge that takes me about 20 mins each evening and an hour on Saturday mornings. It keeps the house beautifully clean and tidy and keeps me on track. I don't go to bed u til the list is done.

I actually had my mum over for a cup of tea and for the first time ever she didn't say a word about 'the awful mess' you could see on her face she was taken aback but didn't want to make a big deal of it, although as she was leaving she gave me a big hug and said 'I'm so glad you're doing so much better'

The very very best bit of all is the change in me. My anxiety is the lowest it's been for months and months and I find it so much easier to just COPE with every day life. I find my 20 minute cleaning each day is actually really therapeutic and after a full day at work it gives me a way to switch off.

So again, thankyou so so so much to everyone who commented on my last thread and was so non-judgemental and lovely, you have quite literally changed my life!

Thank you for posting your routine. I hope we can get one together, too.

pickly congratulations, and can you please tell me which steam mop you got?! It sounds awesome!!

I remember your thread - I'm so proud of you and I don't even know you! And so proud of the lovely vipers who supported you.

So glad you feel better and bloody well done for all your hard work. I know how it feels when it all gets in top of you.

I may have something in my eye 😊

Great thread - has inspired me to come off Mumsnet and do something productive . 10 minute 'blitzes' is a great idea and can really make a difference.

My steam mop is my new best buddy! I got the Vax 10 in 1 steamer and it's just fab!

It's great on the floors, takes about 10 mins to steam mop my whole downstairs and I have the coral pads for it which mop up ANYTHING.

The hand held bit is great fun.. I attacked the cooker hob on Sunday and there was grease and dirt under the rim that must have been there well before we bought the house. It all came out in a really satisfying "WHOOSH".

I'd say it's everyday use is best on the floors but the hand held is ace for the hard to reach bits and bobs that need occasional cleaning.

We are on week 6 now and the house is still tidy :)

This past weekend I bought some plastic drawers for the cupboard in our upstairs bathroom and organised all my makeup and hair stuff. Usually it just ends up in the sink

Next project is the cupboards in the kitchen that need a good sort out but that will be next month :)

Have you steamed your taps yet? They come up beyond shiny! It's almost a shame to use them afterwards.

Hope it's still going well.

I have dug out a steam mop unused for four years after your post. Going to use it after my hols. Excited.

Well done! I totally agree about the mental health benefits - I'm much less prone to depression now our house is less cluttered, and I've noticed an improvement in our DC's behaviour too. Makes such a nicer environment for everyone to live in.

This might be me talking out of my very tired arse but I feel like if the house is cared for then I feel more like caring for myself. Our homes are like an extension of ourselves in a way. That's not true for everyone obviously as we all like different things but for me when I had anxiety, when I was well enough to do it, starting the process of organising the house better and keeping it clean with fresh flowers, that kind of thing, really helped the recovery process.

Terribly put but I am really tired. Hopefully you get what I mean.

I man I feel like caring for myself now anyway but the house being tidy, organised and nice makes me feel cared for somehow.

Well it's the end of week 6 with a clean house

I haven't had an anxiety attack for 4 weeks and there's been plenty of triggers for one in that time. I've also only had 1 "low" day which is unheard of for me. The prospect of going home now makes me happy because I don't have to be faced with the mess and the feeling of "well I should be doing something" if that makes sense? Now I have my jobs board all written out I know exactly what needs to be done when so there's no guess work :)

It's not just my mental health either, I've actually lost weight and haven't had a takeaway in weeks I think this is because my self worth has improved, I now feel "worth" the effort of resisting foody temptations if that makes any sense? It probably doesnt but it all must be related somewhere?

Ooo that's so wonderful.
I'm going to scour through this thread now and copy you.

Great thread op, glad to see you have made such a positive change in your life. Gonna have a read through and see how motivated I can get about my own pig sty!

Well done OP, fab thread! Always inspiring to hear about success

Well done op! You have inspired me, I'm off to clear a kitchen drawer!

Tonight is Friday meaning it's project night

Last week was my makeup and "getting ready" station which had the knock on effect of sorting out my bedroom and bathroom.. tonight it's the spare room..

Lots of crafty things to sort out and organise.. happy friday!

I gave up on the spare room :( that is a job for a much more energetic day!

Instead I cleared my wardrobe of clothes and only put back the things I wear.. I then organised and labelled my wardrobe to take the thinking out of putting stuff away

I had 'helpers' who mostly just napped on the clean clothes

You inspired me! I'm trying to get myself organised by using a bullet journal anyway, so now I've plotted myself a housework chart and it's broken down into daily/weekly/monthly jobs and I can see at a glance what needs doing and when. I'm getting a list of other occasional jobs together that are done on an 'as and when' basis. I'm hoping if I can stick to it I'll feel happier with housey stuff and feel on top of it rather than always feeling likthe I'm playing catch up.

So thank YOU

Lovely thread, glad you got your cleaning mojo back. I love when the house is tidy,organised with a whiff of bleach in the air.

Well done Pickly, glad to hear you're feeling much better in yourself.

Pickly - I'm so impressed with you, your attitude and your approach to getting the house sorted. If there was a gold medal, you'd be up there on the podium!!
Meanwhile, you'll have to make do with a gold star

How're you getting on Pickly?

Forgive me MN, for I have sinned :(

Slipped a bit this week and haven't stuck to my jobs list too well. House is still ok and I've tidied daily and made sure the kitchen sides etc are cleaned down, but I haven't cleaned the bathrooms or vacced all week

I get home at 5pm today and have until 7:30pm when my mum is coming round so I have approx 2.5 hours to get at least downstairs spotless:

What would you prioritize?

So far my list looks like this:

Tidy kitchen and living room
Wipe down all sides in kitchen and living room
Clean the hob & kitchen sink
Clean downstairs bathroom
Vac downstairs
Steam mop floors downstairs
Stick dog beds in wash and steam the plastic bits

Then tomorrow I'll have time in the morning to get the other neglected jobs done like hoovering the stairs and upstairs and cleaning the upstairs bathroom.

I also want to get cracking on the spare room this weekend which I've decided to turn into a craft room/ sewing room. Always fancied making my own clothes so I want to create a space where I can do this. There's loads of "stuff" in the spare room though so it's a bit of a daunting task!

You can do it pickly, just dive in. Remember the feeling of the clean house and hold onto that for inspiration. It's ok to slip sometimes if you get back up.